Albert Penello on Xbox One's DRM: "We're not going back on that"

The Xbox One's DRM debacle and the backlash it caused will always be remembered as a big event in gaming history. Not only it damaged the brand and reputation of Xbox, it also forced Microsoft to hastily change their DRM policies. Microsoft's Albert Penello assures that they will never implement this DRM again.

Thank god for that, wise choice. Maybe in the future (after next gen) their DRM vision will be more relevant, but not now. Let this be a lesson learned to MS or any other gaming company that you can not force something onto the gamer, they will speak with their wallets.

Good to have some reassurance, now i can start saving for my X1 without worrying if those stupid policies will ever come back. Bravo MS, gotta give credit where its due.

I think this DRM backlash will haunt them this whole gen and if they bring it back, don't you think the backlash would be even bigger than it was? Think of the impact that would have on their future sales. They would have no credibility on the rest of the gen or the gen afterwards and if the other console makers don't put in DRM in their next machines Microsoft would have next to no sales. Which is what companies cares about.

They certainly won't bring it back in the same form, and it's likely they'll leave physical games alone for this gen.

I see a bigger push from them in connectivity though, by requiring the user to connect to gain features that should be quite possible on the hardware itself. It seems EA and Ubisoft are going to be doing this as well.

MS has to know by now that in order to push their agenda they have to make the option of DD more appealing than physical media, or make physical media so bogged down with the requirement to connect that one would just go digital because it's about the same.

How it plays out is going to be interesting, but at no point do I see them just saying they threw the switch back to on.

Lol, think whatever you want. I have 103k gamerscore on the 360 and i am buying an X1 early next year hopefully. I don't troll MS articles, i comment giving my opinion, i don't think you understand the meaning of trolling, people throw that word around so easily...what if i just generally don't like MS? Im automatically a troll if i say anything negatively about them?. The idea of me praising MS is so alien to you so you think there has to be some hidden agenda? Sad. Read the last sentence of my original comment.

I don't have to like MS to buy their console and play their games, i may lean more towards Sony but im a gamer first and foremost.

I'll tell you what, i will keep track of you on N4G and then when i have an X1 ill post you photographic proof, that work for you?Lol.

Lukas, you are a very very brave guy. I salute you. I'm sorry, but I don't trust microsoft as far as I can spit.

They have proven to be the most deceitful, sneaky, untrustworthy, scheming, moneywhoring company I have had the displeasure of purchasing products from.

I will be getting an xbox one for sure but It'll be in about four years or so. I will not give them my money anytime soon. They don't deserve it.

Microsoft has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have learned from their mistakes and right now I don't get that.

Everything they've done has been to move consoles not because they see the errors of their ways. They still tried to force DRM even though they knew everyone hated it and was complaining.

All the lies, the non stop lies "The xbox one can do 4k gaming", "Our memory bandwidth is much higher than the ps4", " We can't remove the kinect, It's built into the system. The kinect is xbox one, xbox one is the kinect". How, how can I trust these people?

Why, why in the name of all that is holy will I give these people my money? What have they done to deserve it?

I have no issues with your decision, It's just not the decision I would have made. God speed though. Let us know how it pans out for you and how you like the games. You could probably do some mini reviews in your comments for those of us who are considering buying one eventually.

I knew i was going to get mass disagrees, its no biggie though. Im going to give MS the benefit of the doubt here, i don't think we will see a return of DRM in next gens life cycle, it hurt them too badly this year for them to try it again in my opinion.

"Why, why in the name of all that is holy will I give these people my money? What have they done to deserve it?"

I get that sentence so much, but i just can't miss out on exclusives. As a gamer, i just can't miss out. im prepared to look past my hatred for MS in order to play games that are only on their system.

" i just can't miss out on exclusives. As a gamer, i just can't miss out."

I fully understand this statement, I really do. In some ways I feel the same way. But for me I think it goes a little further than just hatred. It's more like disgust at being treated like an abused wife.

It's like being abused for years and after finally getting the courage to leave, having the husband coming back and begging for another chance. A smart woman would not be so quick to jump back into bed with him again.

I'm not saying in any way that you aren't smart, I'm just saying that I choose to ignore my desire to play those exclusives, at least for now, in order to stand firm on my decision to not support microsoft out of the gate.

I still believe they don't give a rat's a$$ about us. Granted, neither may sony but at least they treated us with a little more respect.

At the end of the day I understand and respect your decision. I personally would like to get some feedback from you on your opinions of the games and the system.

Great to have a mature discussion on this website for once, thanks. Ill be sure to give my opinions on X1 games, im a very opinionated person so keep a look out lol. Ill drop you a friends request so i don't forget who you are lol.

The question I ask is if they hadn't bungled so much in trying to launch the Xbox1, does anyone actually believe Penello would be making this statement at this point!? Microsoft is trying to save face! Nothing more nothing less.

the fact that some people really believed they would implement DRM again AFTER removing it and consumers buying a product that shouldn't have it - just shows the level of intelligence some of you all have.

That would be class action lawsuits waiting to happen.

No, the original DRM plan is never coming back on Xbox One. Give it up already.

The fact that Microsoft was adamant in their attempt to bring the DRM to market- even after months of gamers railing against the idea- before finally relenting just shows how determined they were to implement the restriction.

It would be great if it never came back. But I think it's reasonable to take such words with a grain of salt after how hard they pushed for it in the first place.

If anything, the people who AREN'T skeptical show a level of naivete that should be concerning for the rest of us.